“From the first day she entered my class in 9th grade, Kate was always an engaged, hardworking, and collaborative student,” said BethAnn White, an engineering teacher and one of Kate’s mentors at Charles R. Drew Charter School. “She was an excellent problem solver.” 

“This experience has been really fun – I love it so much,” Kate said. “I love coming into the office. I love that everyone here is so sweet and fun, and I absolutely love my team.” 

A Strong STEAM Community Partner   

In the Drew Engineering Program, students complete three years of coursework and then collaborate with White to seek out and secure an internship in an area of their interest in the engineering and technology fields. While the number of opportunities is growing, high school internships are still rather rare. A 2020 study by American Student Assistance showed that only 2% of high school students had completed internships. 

Last year 16 of the 18 total students at Drew who completed the pathway sought and found placements in industry or academia for their senior year in the program. Of those students, 15 are now pursuing degrees in engineering fields.   

“Kate is a wonderful example of how much students can benefit from our partners like RS&H, as she learned a lot, was given the opportunity to explore many disciplines of civil engineering and now has a leg up on her peers as she enters Georgia Tech to pursue a career as a structural engineer,” White said. “She loved her experience at RS&H and looks forward to continuing her work with them.” 

For RS&H, the feeling is mutual.  

“She’s a rock star,” said RS&H Senior Planning Leader Steve Cote, who introduced Kate to RS&H. “Kate is just an amazing person – she blows us away.” 

An Early Start to Success 

Her most difficult engineering project to date was her junior year project, in which she and a classmate built a custom pinball machine from scratch. They made the machine and all of its components—the wood, vinyl, plunger, bumpers, targets and circuits, and even the Greek mythology theme with Medusa. The year prior, in tenth grade, Kate wrote and published a 101-page novel, The Kingdom of Enasia.  

She became interested in structural engineering after shadowing engineers during her freshman year. Her time at RS&H, working alongside Associate Vice President Ryan Vasile and other structural engineers has only deepened her interest in the field. 

“That was the first time I was like, ‘Wow, this is what I want to do!’” she said.  

RS&H already has an internship program for STEAM high school students. Expanding the program to the Atlanta office and beyond made perfect sense.  

“We wanted to explore the different parts of our company with Kate to show her what is all out there,” Cote said. “We especially wanted to focus on her passion, which is structural, but also expose her to roadway design, some planning work and other disciplines.”  

A Bright Future 

Kate will be in the office, too, but this time as a paid college intern. Like the rest of the RS&H office, she will be ready to lend a helping hand.  

“Everybody here at RS&H will help walk you through things,” Kate said. “They are so helpful and you can tell they really care about teaching you.”